Just wanted to know what others thought X-Com's best weapon was.
My favorite is the heavy laser but the blaster launcher is a close second.
Heavy laser is good sniper weapon (accurate and powerful). Blaster bombs make huge craters and have about a 15m kill radius.

silver footballs are fun to toss (away from my soldiers) not much fun to catch

I'm of the belief that there's no such thing as a best weapon. However, there is such a thing as a best weapon based on category.

You might want to evaluate weapons by:

- Firing speed
- Accuracy
- Raw stopping power
- Weapon weight
- Ammunition capacity
- Price (elerium, alloys, $$$)
- Availability (how easy it is to obtain)
- Etc.

Here are the top 3 weapons by the accuracy and firing speed categories (also divided into their respective firing modes).

Best Accuracy

Launch
1. Blaster Launcher (based on your waypoint plotting skill)

(Only one in its category, since, well, it's special. )

Aimed
1. Rocket Launcher (115%)
2. Rifle, Heavy Plasma, Small Launcher (all tied at 110%)
3. Plasma rifle (100%)

Snap
1. Plasma Rifle (86%)
2. Heavy Plasma (75%)
3. Small Launcher, Plasma Pistol, Laser Rifle (tied at 65%)

Auto
1. Plasma Rifle (55%)
2. Heavy Plasma, Plasma Pistol (Tied at 50%)
3. Laser Rifle (46%)

Fastest

Aimed
1. Pistol (30%)
2. Laser Pistol (35%)
3. Laser Rifle (50%)

Snap
1. Pistol (18%)
2. Laser Pistol (20%)
3. Laser Rifle (25%)

Auto
1. Laser Pistol (25%)
2. Plasma Pistol(30%)
3. Laser Rifle (34%)

The best damage based on the damage type will always be the biggest gun in any particular series of weapons. Of course, some damage types may prove to be far more effective against certain aliens than others.

For example: Lasers generally do double their standard damage to sectopods, and Chryssalids receive only half the normal damage from high explosives. Stun bombs (and other explosive type weaponry) are extra effective against large terror units on account of them occupying 4 tiles, etc.

----

In the end, I feel all it really boils down to is using the right weapon for the right task.

All things considered though, the best balance of speed, firepower, accuracy, etc, must go to both the laser rifle and the heavy plasma. They are, of course, the de-facto all-round most favoured of weapons. I bow to their general superiority.

- NKF


(Yeah, yeah, I'm a bit weird. I've got some of the weapon stats listed on an Excel sheet simply for comparison purposes )

No clip gives the laser the edge though(allows for more gear)

I really like the laser rifle, although I hate the laser pistol...

I'm personally a 'Heavy Plasma' guy.

The words 'heavy' and 'plasma' in the same word is for me too hard to ignore. But accuracy and power, and the fact that most aliens pack a hvy plasma later on in the game means that I have to worry less about the spare clips.

On the other hand the laser rifle has to be my favourite weapon, you only need a rifle and no spares...mmm...no spare clips needed...

Just for fun I picked the Blaster Launcher this time. With plenty of ammo, it's the in-game equivalent of "nuke the site from orbit". You don't recover much, but your soldiers won't have nightmares anymore.

Blaster Launcher tactics: a brief guide.

Building: Nuke it.
Orchard: Nuke it.
Underground bases: Nuke large rooms first.
UFO: Punch a hole in the bridge, then send in a second bomb to nuke it.

:bomber: JFG

Instinctively I'd say Heavy Plasma... It's a good all purpose weapon... Now I'm at the end of the game though I tend to rely on two plasma hovertanks to do the work for me... I usually sit in the Avenger with a squad of Blaster Launcher wielding psiguys... I've said Blaster launcher...

Heavy Plasma is the best all-round weapon IMO, mainly because it is so readily available in the later part of the game.

Blaster Launcher is teh rock. Bziit... Bziiit... **BOOOOMM**

I got for the laser rifle baby. Cheap auto cost, decent damage, light, looks cool. Gotta love it.

NK, I'm speechless.

Voted for laser rifle because I always forget to resupply my troops with new clips . In the early stages of the game a laser pistol is good for entering UFO's. It lets you walk in a room, fire autoshots 2 or 3 times and an agent with a lot of time units can even get out of the room again.

Vote Laser Rifle....Equip and forget.

i voted for the rifle, though it lacks punching power it doesn't weigh as much as the laser rifle. therefore i can carry one or two more grenades. i also like that you can buy them instead of manufacture them so i always keep a huge stock pile of rifles and ammunition. all in all they are just cheaper to use in the short run, but laser rifles will eventually pay for themselves...but not soon enough to notice.

Yeah, it would take quite a while to use $20,000 worth of ammo per person

having said that... it wouldn't take too long for it to save that much by the fact of it having the power to kill the terror units (and saving you $20,000 that you'd have spent on a new soldier)

lol...........didn't figure i would add that into the picture, i rarly loose a unit though and i don't save in combat at all. so if i loose someone (even if its my best vet) they are dead and rotted. but i like the rifles anyways

My preference is for the pistol over the rifle. I could get rather prosy over the 'why's', but I'll try to summarise.

- The rifle deals 20 damage, the pistol 16. That's just -4 points. Not much difference to lightly armoured aliens.
- Snapshot accuracy is identical to the rifle and heavy cannon (60%)
- Snapshot cost is 18% (that's 5 bullets per turn, excellent for reaction fire).
- All weapons in the game can be fired at any range.
- One handed.
- It's cheap. No denying that.
- It's got that "Haha, I beat you with a pistol" feel all over it.

That's not to say the rifle doesn't have its merits. Its got burst fire and a very accurate aimed shot.

You just have to watch the type of aliens you're fighting though. Too much armour and the rifles and pistols become useless. This is quite true for quite a number of the terror units. Hence why it's always a good idea to compliment them with something more powerful. Even a laser pistol is enough to take on almost all types of terror units, the laser rifle hurts all of them.

It's nice the way the weapon balance in UFO is such that you can get away with it for quite a long time with starting level equipment. The same cannot be said about TFTD though, particularly when the lobstermen show up.

- NKF

My troops always have a laser with them. The heavy weapons soldiers have laser pistols for backup, the standard trooper has a laser rifle, and the snipers have heavy lasers just in case I need a one shot kill (any thing but muton possibly 3 shots) across the map.

Laser rifles- for all the reason already mentioned above (accurate, consistent against all foes, no clip, etc)- but also 'cos it's good 'ol homegrown technology- you can keep your filthy alien weapons (umm, except for craft weapons, oh, and when you want to cause REAL damage!)

I actually don't use heavy plasma's and alien explosives because I like a challenge. (Although I can still use the lasers, which I find the best weapon :rolleyes: )